Yeah, he really did. Never mind all those years where the landlords took it in the shorts. Nope. That is history. And we know that doesn’t matter unless it goes against the tennants.

Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon called Wednesday for the passage of a one-year moratorium on rent increases for more than 600,000 apartments across the city, saying the economic downturn has hurt families living in those buildings.

Appearing with a room full of renters’ rights advocates, Alarcon said his proposal would block landlords from imposing the 3% rent increase that would be allowed on July 1 under the city’s rent stabilization ordinance. That ordinance applies to an estimated 630,000 apartment units built before 1978.

One business group, the Valley Industry and Commerce Assn., immediately denounced Alarcon’s call for a rent moratorium.

“Los Angeles already places an unreasonable number of regulations on business owners,” said Edgar Khalatian, chairman of the the group’s land use committee. “This is yet another unfair burden on property owners who are struggling to avoid foreclosure proceedings.”